Needlepoint, type of embroidery known as canvas work until the early 19th century. In needlepoint the stitches are counted and worked with a needle over the threads, or mesh, of a canvas foundation. Either single- or double-mesh canvas of linen or cotton is used. If needlepoint is worked on a canvas that has 16 to 20 or more mesh holes per linear inch, the embroidery is called petit point; if the number of holes ranges from 7 or 8 to 16 squares per inch, it is called gros point; and, if the mesh openings are fewer than 7, it is known as quick point. From the 16th to the 18th century most needlepoint was petit point with 20 to 45 squares per linear inch.

There are more than 150 canvas embroidery stitches, most of which are a variation or combination of the long stitch, covering more than one mesh, or intersection of threads, and the tent stitch, which covers only one. Since the 16th century the most commonly used stitches have been the tent (or continental) stitch, the vertically worked Florentine stitch (also called the flame, bargello, or Hungarian stitch), and the cross-stitch. In the 20th century the basket weave, or diagonal, stitch has achieved widespread popularity. It produces a firmer fabric but also uses more yarn than the tent stitch.

Wool is generally used for needlepoint, though silk yarn also can be employed for embroidering. For petit point, finer crewel yarns are used, while gros point is most frequently worked in two-ply Persian yarn or four-ply tapestry yarn.

Needlepoint as it is known today can be said to have originated in the 17th century, when the fashion for furniture upholstered with embroidered fabrics prompted the development of a more durable material, canvas, to serve as the foundation for the embroidery.

Originally, needlepoint designs were drawn either by the amateur embroiderer, often from pattern books published in Europe since the 16th century, or by professional embroiderers, who, until the 18th century, were mostly attached to a court or a wealthy family. By the mid-18th century the number of professional embroiderers in Europe was so large that many opened shops where embroidery supplies were sold as well as needlepoint kits that included a designed canvas and all the materials needed to complete it.

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